Federal judge overseeing PG&E’s probation demands...

1of 71A Daly City firefighter stands atop an engine to survey the fire on Claremont Drive in San Bruno, where a suspected explosion in a gas line ignited the area.A Daly City firefighter stands atop an engine to survey the carnage of the gas pipeline explosion.Photo: Brant Ward / The Chronicle 2010

2of 71FILE - In this Sept. 9, 2010 file photo, a massive fire roars through a neighborhood in San Bruno, Calif. Pacific Gas & Electric Co. says it is prepared to pay the maximum fine of $3 million after a jury convicted the company of deliberately violating pipeline safety regulations before a deadly natural gas pipeline explosion in the San Francisco Bay Area and then misleading investigators looking into the blast. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma, File)Photo: Paul Sakuma / Associated Press 2010

3of 71Irma Vides (left) and Margarita Astudillo embrace in a bedroom of the Vides home in San Bruno on Sunday after staying in hotels since Thursday's explosion and fire. Astudillo and her child had been staying with the Vides family.An aerial photograph shows the path of the destructive fire that started with an explosion in an underground natural gas pipeline.Photo: Brant Ward, The San Francisco Chronicle

4of 71investigators at the scene in San Bruno, Calif. on Saturday, Sept. 11, 2010 where a natural gas line explosion destroyed more than 35 homes and killed four. Two others remain missing.Photo: Paul Chinn / The Chronicle 2010

12of 71A downed telephone pole off of Elliott Road after the Camp Fire tore through the town of Paradise, California, on Friday, Nov. 9, 2018.Photo: Gabrielle Lurie / The Chronicle

13of 71An incinerated vehicle is seen abadoned in the middle of Pearson Road after the Camp Fire ravaged the town of Paradise, California, on Friday, Nov. 9, 2018.Photo: Gabrielle Lurie/The Chronicle

14of 71Evacuee Suzanne Kaksonen nuzzles her cockatoo Buddy after sleeping in a tent a week after fleeing Paradise where the Camp Fire destroyed her home in Chico, California, on Thursday, Nov. 15, 2018.She stayed in a tent near the parking lot at Walmart along with many others as it acted as a makeshift evacuation site.Photo: Gabrielle Lurie, The Chronicle

15of 71Sheriff's deputies yell to drivers to evacuate the area off of Pentz Road during the Camp Fire in Paradise, California, on Thursday, Nov. 8, 2018.Photo: Gabrielle Lurie/The Chronicle

24of 71Evacuees Gary Vail embraces wife Janice Vail as they sit in their car after sleeping there and after escaping their home from the Camp Fire at a makeshift evacuation site at Walmart in Chico, California, on Thursday, Nov. 15, 2018.Photo: Gabrielle Lurie, The Chronicle

25of 71Evacuee Ron Irick sits in a friends car after sleeping there with his newly rescued dog Jojo after escaping his home in Magalia from the Camp Fire at a makeshift evacuation site at Walmart in Chico, California, on Thursday, Nov. 15, 2018.Photo: Gabrielle Lurie, The Chronicle

36of 71A half melted statue of Jesus is seen at Troy Miller's property after the Camp Fire tore through the area on Concow Road in Concow, California, on Tuesday, Nov. 13, 2018.Photo: Gabrielle Lurie/The Chronicle

40of 71Troy Miller who survived the Camp Fire in what he called a "miraculous act of God" recounts his experience of making it through the fire on Concow Road in Concow, California, on Tuesday, Nov. 13, 2018.Photo: Gabrielle Lurie/The Chronicle

41of 71Greg Woodcox poses for a portrait with his dogs, Romey and Jules, after recounting his harrowing escape from Edgewood Lane from the Camp Fire in Paradise, Calif. while standing near his Jeep watching the fire from Chico Airport in Chico, Calif. Sunday, Nov. 11, 2018Photo: Jessica Christian/The Chronicle

42of 71Members of the San Francisco Fire Department gather together to check out an area map in Paradise, Calif. Sunday, Nov. 11, 2018 before surveying areas where Camp Fire ripped through the town of Paradise, Calif.Photo: Jessica Christian/The Chronicle

44of 71Alameda County Sheriff's Dept. Sgt. Howard Baron looks in a burned vehicle while searching for fire victims in the Rocky Lane Mobile Home Park in aftermath of Camp Fire in Paradise, Calif. on Monday, November 12, 2018.Photo: Scott Strazzante/The Chronicle

45of 71A water meter is seen melted outside of a home that once stood on Billie Road after the Camp Fire devastated the entire town of Paradise, Calif. Saturday, Nov. 10, 2018.Photo: Jessica Christian/The Chronicle

46of 71Animal volunteer evacuator Tamara Houston, left, comforts Cathy Fallon outside Fallon's home Sunday, Nov. 11, 2018. Fallon survived the Camp Fire while bunkering down in her home on Edgewood Lane after the Camp Fire ripped through the town of Paradise, Calif.Photo: Jessica Christian/The Chronicle

47of 71A horse is seen badly burned with chunks of its mane missing after being left behind when the Camp Fire ripped through Paradise, Calif. Maple Leaf Lane Saturday, Nov. 10, 2018. A group of local volunteers soon came to rescue it and seven others.Photo: Jessica Christian/The Chronicle

48of 71Brad Weldon checks on his mother, Norma Weldon, 90, as they stay inside their home after the Camp Fire devastated the entire town of Paradise, Calif. Saturday, Nov. 10, 2018. Weldon stayed in his home with his 90-year-old mother, Norma Weldon, and roommate, Mic McCrary, as the fire overtook their entire neighborhood while leaving his home untouched.Photo: Jessica Christian/The Chronicle

52of 71Brad Weldon carries water dropped off by passerbys back to his home, through his neighborhood that was destroyed after the Camp Fire devastated the entire town of Paradise, Calif. Saturday, Nov. 10, 2018. Weldon stayed in his home with his 90-year-old mother, Norma Weldon, and roommate, Mic McCrary, as the fire overtook their entire neighborhood while leaving his home untouched.Photo: Jessica Christian/The Chronicle

59of 71Evacuee Jonathan Taylor stands on the road to take photos of the Camp Fire in Paradise, California, on Friday, Nov. 9, 2018. His house and family business are in Paradise and he is concerned they will be gone when he goes back home.Photo: Gabrielle Lurie/The Chronicle

A federal judge asked Pacific Gas and Electric Co. on Tuesday to account for any role the utility played in sparking California’s deadliest and most destructive wildfire.

In a two-page court filing, U.S. District Judge William Alsup in San Francisco asked California’s largest utility for “an accurate and complete statement” of its connection to the cause and reporting of the Camp Fire, which destroyed nearly 14,000 homes and killed at least 88 people.

Alsup oversees the ongoing probation imposed on PG&E following a jury verdict related to the 2010 San Bruno pipeline explosion that killed eight people and destroyed 38 homes. In his filing Tuesday, he asked PG&E about the Camp Fire in particular as well as PG&E’s role, if any, in the cause and reporting of “all other wildfires in California” since the utility was sentenced in January 2017.

PG&E spokeswoman Erin Garvey said the utility is aware of the notice from Alsup and is reviewing the document.

“Nothing is more important than the safety of our customers, employees, contractors and the communities we serve,” she said in an email. “We continue to focus on assessing infrastructure, safely restoring power where possible, and helping our customers recover and rebuild.”

While the cause of the Camp Fire is still under investigation, PG&E told state regulators the day after the blaze started that a transmission line in the area of the fire’s origin had a problem shortly before the first flames were reported.

About one week later, the utility reported another outage happened shortly after the fire started and said it was cooperating with state fire officials who collected some of the company’s equipment. Investigators are examining a possible second starting point to the conflagration.

Alsup asked PG&E what requirements of its San Bruno-related sentence “might be implicated by any inaccurate, slow or failed reporting of information about any wildfire” by the utility. He further inquired about the steps taken by an independent monitor to “monitor and improve PG&E safety and reporting with respect to power lines and wildfires.”

Alsup also is seeking to know whether any requirements of PG&E’s sentence from the San Bruno explosion “might be implicated” if the utility’s reckless operation or maintenance of its power lines caused a wildfire.

The judge posed his questions to the parties in the San Bruno case — PG&E and the U.S. attorney’s office — as well as the independent monitor appointed to oversee the safety of the utility’s gas pipeline operations. Alsup asked for written answers by Dec. 31.

Alsup took over supervision of the case from his predecessor, District Judge Thelton Henderson, in August 2017.

The questions from Alsup were of great interest to attorney Mike Danko, who is on a team of lawyers representing Camp Fire victims suing PG&E. Danko said if Alsup finds PG&E violated the terms of its probation, he could impose further constraints on the company — including stricter government oversight.

“It’s serious stuff, without question,” Danko said. “Basically, to the extent people were thinking ... that the criminal conviction is in the rearview mirror, no — this felon is still on probation.”

The filing from Alsup is the latest in a series of obstacles for PG&E since the ignition of the Camp Fire. Lawsuits, including wrongful death claims, have been piling up in recent weeks against the utility, and the stock price of its parent company plummeted before experiencing a modest recovery.

Separately, PG&E remains the subject of an investigation before the California Public Utilities Commission regarding its commitment to safety in its corporate culture. Commissioners on Thursday are set to consider advancing that investigation, taking up a proposed decision from an administrative law judge who questioned whether PG&E is “truly changing its culture, or is just trying to ‘check the boxes.’”

The president of the utilities commission has said he wants to expand the PG&E safety culture investigation — which was started because of the San Bruno blast — to include recent wildfires.

J.D. Morris is a business reporter covering energy, including PG&E, Tesla and California’s clean power initiatives.

Before joining The Chronicle, he was the Sonoma County government reporter for the Santa Rosa Press Democrat, where he was among the journalists awarded a Pulitzer Prize for their coverage of the 2017 North Bay wildfires.

He was previously the casino industry reporter for the Las Vegas Sun. Raised in Monterey County and Bakersfield, he has a bachelor’s degree in rhetoric from UC Berkeley.